Unexpected
by gleewinchester
Summary: Two years have passed since Marc and Cliff ended their spontaneous engagement. When the person Marc thought he would never see again walks back into MODE, tensions run high and complicated feelings return.


**Hi guys! It's been a while, I know. I should be finishing my other stories. But recently, I binge-watched **_**Ugly Betty**_** on Netflix. Not only once, but twice. So…. I discovered a new OTP. I don't know if I will continue this fanfic, but I love Marc and Cliff, and this is just a small** **drabble I started.**

**Enjoy!**

The MODE elevator doors swung open as Amanda blankly gazed at the person walking out of them. She raised an eyebrow as the seemingly attractive man walked past the desk without a glance to spare.

"Hey. It's rude to ignore pretty people. "

He turned towards the desk, still avoiding her gaze. "I'm shooting the Cara Delavigne shoot, and I'm also not on your team."

With that, he strolled away toward the MODE offices. Amanda, left a little stunned, waved over Marc who was passing by with a stack of sketches for the October cover.

"Marc! I was just completely turned on and ignored by a gay man – you should tap that so I can experience that again."

"Oh my gosh who is he? Ever since I broke up with Troy I've been extremely bored and craving attention. It's a critical situation."

"Aw, poor Troy. He was so…eager…and stalkerish. You need someone intimidating, short, light, and handsome – like THAT guy."

Marc looked sideways at Amanda, puzzled at her misuse of well-known quotations.

"Ok, first of all it's tall, dark, and handsome. And second of all, next time that Mr. Mysterious comes by the desk, page me IMMEDIATELY."

Amanda nodded with a giant smirk across her face. "Yeah, then we can all go out together and I can make him question his sexuality."

Walking away, Marc yelled back, "Nice try, Mandy!"

The whole rest of the day went by with Amanda scoping the scene for the stranger as she ate a box of Oreos to pass the time. This resulted in her letting almost anyone into the MODE offices, which graced everyone with a small but effective outburst from Wilhelmina.

The next morning was almost a parallel of the day before. Amanda, showcasing her "bored as ever" face, sat at the desk watching the elevator doors open.

It was him.

She scrambled frantically for her pager, knocking down the telephone wires and stacks of papers on the desk in the process. As her target slowly made his way across the walkway, she grabbed the pager, calling Marc.

She tapped her nails in a panic and bit her lip as she watched him pass. Realizing that she had no other choice, she called out to him.

"You! Sir, I am going to need to see some identification."

He stopped in his tracks, obviously frustrated.

"I told you yesterday, I'm doing a shoot for this magazine. It's no big deal, I've already checked in with Wilhelmina and-"

She cut him off with a finger, "Look, I may not look like the smartest bulb in the place where you put the bulb, but I'm damn good at my job."

"Really? Like when you just let me pass by yesterday and only cared that I ignored your looks?" he responded.

"I was having an off day – you're sassy. Now, that ID."

The stranger looked exceptionally frustrated and reluctantly handed over his ID, not hesitating to turn away from the desk.

Amanda, thinking she had won, took the card and looked down on it.

As her mouth produced a gasp, Marc excitedly pranced up to the MODE desk.

"Did somebody randomly page me? Here I am, the successful, talented, FLAMING gay, Marc St. James!" he said as he flashed his signature smile.

Amanda frantically started waving her arms about and coughing to catch Marc's attention before he went too far.

Marc extended his hand out to the stranger, who turned around and looked blankly at him.

"Hiiii, I don't believe we've me-"

Marc St. James was rarely caught suddenly speechless and at a loss for emotion, but there he stood, frozen in front of the MODE desk.

Amanda gulped and whispered, "It's Cliffffff. That's what I was trying to –"

Cliff shot a glance at Amanda, which halted her from saying anything else.

Marc, frazzled and almost in sheer panic, muttered, "I- I have to go, Willy will kill me if I'm late…"

He lingered on the last word, knowing that he didn't really want to walk away from Cliff.

Amanda, caught in between the weighing tension of the two, continued to tap her nails and bite her lip. She watched her best friend walk away without his usual flare, appearing lackluster.

When she turned back around, Cliff had disappeared.

"The gays are so dramatic," Amanda said as she got up to find where Marc had really ran to.

She ran off to the ladies' restroom and sure enough found Marc bent over the sink.

"How'd you know I'd be in here?" Marc muttered in between soft sniffles.

"Because, the lighting in the men's room sucks. I would know," Amanda said with a smirk.

That managed to get a laugh from Marc, but then he remembered why he was in the bathroom in the first place..

"…I can't believe he's actually here. I don't – I don't want him to be here. He _can't _be here."

**Ok…so that's it for now, unless you guys want more! I know this is a relatively old show, but it was fun to write…kind of. Thanks for reading – and PLEASE leave a review **


End file.
